Most screwed up, annoying piece of.....

[markb]

AI s*cks:

About a hundred troop ships and still can't transport troops (yes I did create ground units).

Scout and troop ships seems to be the default production items.

Colony ships go to systems already colonized and just hang out (good luck tracking them down after you've spread out).

Doesn't matter how many ships you have in an enemy system you will not be able to bombard the planet (yes I know you have to control the initial combat).

Make sure you have plenty of ships in every system or pirates will start breeding like a virus and other races will start colonizing your systems.

We're at war. We're not at war. We're at war. We're not at war. Etc., etc., for ever and ever. Get used to it cause you can't bomb them and can't invade them.

If you start making treaties (or just happen to encounter another race) get used to getting diplomatic messages EVERY SINGLE TURN.

If being elected president of the Orion counsel is one of your victory conditions then the first time there is an election you have lost the game. (You don't even have to be a member of the Orion counsel.)

There is a choice between an older design defense base that takes 20 turns to build or new design system ship that takes 500 turns to build. Guess what the AI picks (right.......500 turns).

And on, and on, and on.

Overall I think Atari ripped me off for the $50 the game cost. I may go to comdex or ces to look for an atari representitive and sail (throw) the disks at him/her/it until they catch on.

[Doomshade]

how to make friends and influence people strategy? How is this a strategy or gameplay issue? You sound like a person who doesn't understand the game very well and perhaps has not DLed and installed the beta patch? Sorry you feel so screwed but I really like this game and I can always bombard as well as invade with ground forces so I am not sure what you are doing incorrectly there. Flame away but really why do you care since you hate the game so much (so perhaps you won't ever even read this, because why would you waste time on this forum, or are you just one of those inciter type people)?

[Kralizec!]

Sounds like you are play pre-patch. Try the (beta) code patch and see how it improves the game! :)

[Ron_Lugge]

I refuse to waste my patience on someone who is obviously lying, or is lazy to the point of insanity.

I can buy not knowing how to transport troops, or bombard, or deal with colony ships. I can get my head around the idea of not understanding how elections work. I can not believe he ever saw the AI choose a 500 T construction project over a 10 turn one. In fact, I can't believe that its possible for there to BE a 500 turn obsolete / 20 turn modern situation! This is so obviously a pathetic attempt to stir up trouble its ridiculous!

[Da_Blade]

Well markb, you would have gotten a lot more positive replies if you didn't complain but simply asked the questions, since there isn't a single complaint in your post that's a true complaint. Atari did not rip you off, quite the contrary, you got quite a complex game for your money! Well, since i'm such a good guy, here's my answers:

Originally posted by markb
About a hundred troop ships and still can't transport troops (yes I did create ground units).

Click on your home system, or any other system with a mobilization center built, from the galaxy map. You will zee two buttons: 'Create Ground Forces' and 'Create Faskforces'. Click on 'Create Ground Forces'. You will now be asked to make a ground force. After you click accept, you will be asked to make a fleet to carry those ground forces. Tada, transport fleet WITH ground troops. Difficult eh?

Scout and troop ships seems to be the default production items.

As said before, try installing the latest beta code patch, it fixes a bug with transport building. Also, read around these forums a bit and learn how you can get it to built any ship you like. Also, you can temporarily obsolete ship design you do not want anymore.

Colony ships go to systems already colonized and just hang out (good luck tracking them down after you've spread out).

The bug concerning this will be fixed in the upcoming patch, but in the meantime there's an easy workaround: once you get the message "Colony task force created and sent too XXX II" click the hyperlink and cancel the colony. The ship that did get send will still colonize, but no new ships will be sent.

Doesn't matter how many ships you have in an enemy system you will not be able to bombard the planet (yes I know you have to control the initial combat).
If you have any kind of non-agression treaty or alliance you cannot fight them.

Make sure you have plenty of ships in every system or pirates will start breeding like a virus and other races will start colonizing your systems.
Well, you're living in space. Any region that is remote and badly protected will swarm with pirates and enemy empires. I bet the british high command came to the queen with the same complaint as you in the 15th century about Africa.

We're at war. We're not at war. We're at war. We're not at war. Etc., etc., for ever and ever. Get used to it cause you can't bomb them and can't invade them.

*Sigh* that's simply not true.... If you;re at war you can invade and bombard all you like.

If you start making treaties (or just happen to encounter another race) get used to getting diplomatic messages EVERY SINGLE TURN.

So? Friendship is not about calling one time and never seeing each other again... Besides that, you can also ignore them. It's not like you are forced to see a minute long animation for each diplomatic message.

If being elected president of the Orion counsel is one of your victory conditions then the first time there is an election you have lost the game. (You don't even have to be a member of the Orion counsel.)

Not true. As long as the New Orions win the election you're fine. And not being a memeber of the counsel means you have a race against the clock to exterminate all other possible winners. Try playing ithkul SP with the victory on, you really have a race against the clock then. Also, post-patch the orions get a lot more votes in bigger galaxies, so it takes longer for anyone to be able to win.

There is a choice between an older design defense base that takes 20 turns to build or new design system ship that takes 500 turns to build. Guess what the AI picks (right.......500 turns).

There's people complaining about this exactly the other way round. I never have trouble either way, since i obsolete an old design i don;t want anymore. And besides, a 480 turn difference in building can only be a huge size difference. And guess what: if it takes 500 turns to build i doubt the planet has built the shipyard techs yet, so he can't even build that design, so you're exhagerating just a tiny bit...

Also, if you're so irritated by what the AI chooses, the ability to control the build queue yourself isn't there for nothing, there's people enough who enjoy the game tremendously that control most queue's themselves.

[The Wagster]

We're at war. We're not at war. We're at war. We're not at war. Etc., etc., for ever and ever

Bear in mind that each turn is one galactic cycle, ie. 1.5 of your Earth years. You may think you've been at peace for 10 turns but the computer thinks that after 150 years it's time to start another war.

[markb]

I want to thank everyone who replied.

Please consider that I am venting rather than flaming. With the complexity of the game it is often very frustrating trying to figure out what the AI is doing and then trying to figure out how to change it.

No, I don't understand the game well, but I'm learning.

Yes it is pre-patch. I will install the patch and see how it changes.

Also, a well constructed insult is much more entertaining than a simple polite reply to a question. :)

[Doomshade]

That was a well crafted reply (and very unexpected on my part). It really diffused the thread in my mind. Makes me feel bad that I was a little snotty, heh. I am glad to see that you were just venting and appear to be interested in trying the game with the newest patch. And if more questions/concerns come to mind post them here and Da_Blade and Ron (and many others) can almost certainly answer them for you.

[synchro_w]

Originally posted by Doomshade
That was a well crafted reply (and very unexpected on my part). It really diffused the thread in my mind. Makes me feel bad that I was a little snotty, heh. I am glad to see that you were just venting and appear to be interested in trying the game with the newest patch. And if more questions/concerns come to mind post them here and Da_Blade and Ron (and many others) can almost certainly answer them for you.


i'm quite startled, too.

the pre patch game is more than a little frustrating. i think mark was saying wjhat a lot of us were soon after we'd first tried moo3.

post patch it is really very very gut. moo3 is like a fine w[h?]ine... it just gets better with [r?]age.

das;)

[RobNelson]

If you still find that you need help on how to do things, check out the link in my sig. Most of it was written pre-patch, but there's little that's different.

[markb]

I quit.............wait, I haven't tried this.

I quit..............wait, I haven't tried that.

Moo3; the alternative to crack.:p

[Orionator]

I feel your pain, markb.

I'm addicted to a game I loathe. How'd that happen?

They need to FIX IT for crying out loud ...

Have you started trying to manage multiple species yet? You're in for a real treat ... that is if you enjoy such things as double-entry bookkeeping, itemizing deductions, and calculating the alternative minimum tax.

Some parts of this game are about as much fun as filling out "Schedule D" in triplicate.

But I love the game ... I'm just venting.

[RobNelson]

There are some mods to alter migration (so that 1 race planets are more likely and 2 race planets tend to clear out). I don't have any links, but it might make multi-racial empires more fun than "Schedule D" in triplicate...

[Sencho]

The fuel was placed.

The matches brought.

The fires stoked.

And the smores made.